Device for extinguishing burning oil-wells and for collecting oil therefrom.



No. 739,377. IA'IENTED-SEPT. 22, 1903.

. N- BBLL- DEVICE FOR BXTINGUISHING BURNING OIL WELLS AND FOR COLLECTING OIL THEREPROM.

APPLICATION TILED OCT. 9, 1902.

NO IOD EL.

I 7 M I m e l UNITED STATES,

' iatenteol September 22, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK N. BELL, OF MILFORD,-MASSACHUSETTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 739,377, dated September 22, 1903.

Application flled October 9,1902. Serial No. 126,419. (No model.) i i V v To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, FRANK N. BELL, a citi zen of the United States, residing at Milford,

in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in steam or Water; but if the well is sending out a stream of comparatively large volume with any degree of force such means oftentimes prove inefiective.

It is the object of my invention to provide a simple device which is portable and by means of which the flame of any burning oil-well.

may be effectively and almost instantly extinguished. The device also operates to collect the oil issuing from the well and conduct it to suitable tanks, and therefore acts as an oil-collecting device, as well as a fire-extinguisher.

My device is in the nature of a portable cap or bonnet-like structure, which is adapted to be placed over the oil-pipe in an oil-well, the said device being so constructed as to spread the stream of oil issuing from the pipeand deflect the same onto an annular flange extending from the interior walls of the structure and forming with such walls a suitable chamber to receive the oil.

One or more conduits or pipes are secured to the device above the flange and operate to conduct the oil which collects in the chamber to tanks or any other reservoir. The device is entirely separate from the pipe of the oilwell and is adapted to be placed over the said pipe, as above described. In building the device its weight will be made sufficiently great so that it will not be lifted by the force of the stream of oil.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective viewshowing the device in use. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of myimproved device. Fig. 3 is a detail view of one form of spreader. Fig. 4 is a detail view of a slightly-modified form of spreader, and Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a modified form of device.

My improved device is in the nature of a portable cap or bonnet, which is adapted to be placed over the oil well or pipe 3 and comprises the side walls 4, the spreader 5, depending from the top of the side walls, and the internal flange 6.

The device-may have any suitable shape inIcross-sectional area, either polygonal or circular; but I will prefer tomake the walls 4 cylindrical in shape, with a slight taper to ward their upper end. The flange 6 may extend substantially horizontally or have a slight upward inclination, as in Fig. 2; but .1 prefer the latter.

The spreader 5, which depends from the top of the bonnet or cap, is made with a tapering body which terminates in an apex 7,

which will extend through and slightly below the opening Sin the flange 6. The preferred form of this spreader 5 is that of an inverted cone, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, although the spreader may be pyramidal or wedge-shaped or partially wedge-shaped and partially conical, as shown in Fig. 4, wherein the device has the flattened sides 9, or any other suitable shape, provided it has the tapering body terminating in an apex.

The upper portions of the side walls 4 are curved inwardly, as at 10, and merge into the surface of the base of the spreader 5, so as 'to make a curvilinear surface connecting the side walls and spreader.

' Thebody of the device has one or more dis! charge-nozzles 11, to which any suitable-conduits or pipes 12 may be connected, said pipes being of a sufflcient length to reach to a tank 13 or other reservoir into which itis desired toempty the oil.

In using the device it will be placed over the oil-well pipe, as shown in Fig. 3, in such position that the stream of oil will strike the apex of the spreader 5. The spreader operates to spread the stream into a sheet, which by the force of the issuing stream passesover the surface of the spreader and is deflected IOO ported.

by the curvilinear portions 10 so as to move downwardly over the walls 4 until it meets the flange 6. As the oil collects in the chamber 13 above the flange it finds escape through the nozzles 11 and conduits 12.

It will be observed that the device has no connection whatever with the oil-pipe of the oil-well and is intended merely to sit overthe pipe and rest on the ground. I propose to make the device heavy enough so that it will not be lifted from the ground by the force of the stream of oil, thus doing away with the necessity of any special anchors for holding itin place. If necessary, weights may be applied to the device to hold it in place where the oil is issuing from the pipe with an excessive force.

When an oil-well gets afire, combustion takes place, and the flame exists only high in the air where the solid stream of oil issuing from the pipe begins to be broken up into a spray. When, therefore, my invention is placed over the pipe of a burning oil-well, as shown in Fig. 2, the flame will be high above the device and none of the oil which is discharged into the device will be burning. Consequently as soon as the oil which is already in the air at the time that the device is placed over the pipe has been fully consumed, which will be a matter of onlya few minutes, the fire at the well will be entirely extinguished, and the device may thereafter be employed as a means for collecting or conducting the oil to the tank 13.

I have herein illustrated the device as having suitable handles 16 secured to the sides thereof, by means of which it may be trans- The device will preferably be made of sheet metal, although it may be cast or formed in any other suitable way, and the spreader 5 may either form the top of the cap, as shown in the drawings, or may be a separate piece depending from the top thereof.

Various changes may be made in the device without departing from the invention 'set forth in the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a device of the class described, a hollow body havinga flange projecting from the interior of its walls, an outlet above said flange, and a spreader extending downwardly from the upper part of the body.

2. In a device of the class described, ahollow body having a flange projecting inwardly from its interior, an outlet above said flange, andapointed spreader extending downwardly from the upper part of the body, the apex of said spreader extending below the inner edge of said flange.

3. A device of the class described having a hollow body provided with an interior flange, an outlet above said flange, and a spreader extending downwardly from the upper part of the body, the spreader being connected to the walls of the body by a deflecting-surface which operates to deflect the sheet of oil from the spreader onto the flange.

4. A device of the class described comprising a hollow body having an interior flange and an outlet above the flange, the interior surface of the upper part of the body being constructed to receive an upwardly-directed stream of fluid and spread and deflect the latter downwardly onto the flange.

5. A device of the class described compris ing a hollow body having cylindrical side walls which are curved inwardly at their upper ends, and a spreader depending from the top of said body, the surface of the spreader converging to an apex and merging into and forming with the inwardly-curved walls a deflecting-surface, and an annular flange extending inwardly from the cylindrical walls, the said walls having an outlet and dischargepipe nozzle connected therewith above the flange.

6. In a device of the class described, an inverted-cupshaped member separate from the oil-pipe of an oil-well and adapted to be placed over said pipe, said member having a pointed spreader depending from its top, and a flange projecting inwardly from its walls,the walls of said body being provided with outlets above the flange. I

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK N. BELL.

Witnesses: V

IRVING W. JoY, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 

